Hi ,

How are you doing today?

It has been about four weeks since my last email. I was travelling to Mumbai and, more importantly, finishing my book on women's health. The manuscript went to my publisher two days ago. I do not yet have a publication date, but I will keep you updated.

The second reason I have been quiet is harder to put into words.

Like many of you, I have been watching the conflict in the Middle East with a heavy heart. The constant stream of suffering and uncertainty can make it feel as though stress is swallowing us. Billions of dollars are spent on war and destruction, while millions of people go without healthcare.

I am aware that for some of you, this is not a distant news story. You may be carrying personal grief right now — a family member, a friend, someone whose loss has left a painful absence. I am deeply sorry.

I kept asking myself: in the middle of all this, what is worth saying? I came back to one answer — rethinking stress.

What is stress resilience?

Stress resilience is not the absence of stress. It is the ability to return to your baseline — physically, behaviourally, and emotionally — without lasting damage, and to do so sooner rather than later. It is less about how hard you are hit and more about how well you recover.

What the research shows

Stanford researchers tested a programme called Rethink Stress across three real-world workplace trials. Employees who completed this brief training:

• Shifted their mindset from "stress is purely harmful" toward "stress can be enhancing."
• Reported fewer physical and emotional stress symptoms several weeks later
• Showed improvements in creativity, focus, engagement, and collaboration

Rather than claiming stress is always bad or always good, the programme offered a balanced picture. Participants learned that their mindset about stress shapes how it affects their brain, body, and behaviour, and that this mindset can be consciously shifted.

They were taught a simple three-step practice:

• Acknowledge stress instead of denying it
• Welcome it as a signal that something you care about is at stake
• Use the energy of stress to take meaningful action aligned with your values

None of this erases war, injustice, or personal hardship. Stressful events remain. But this research suggests that even amid global turmoil, we retain a profound inner freedom: the freedom to choose how we relate to the stress we feel.

Stanford has made their Rethinking Stress Toolkit freely available here.

With warmth and hope,

Shabnam

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Dr. Shabnam Das Kar, MD

Functional Medicine Doctor

Tiny Habits Coach

Email: [email protected]